Anatomy and Physiology (LECTURE NOTES) CSU – BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION TO ANATOMY &

PHYSIOLOGY
Anatomy = “cutting up” (Greek)
The study of the structure and form of the parts of a living organism
Example: What does the heart look like & what are some of its parts?
Physiology
• The study of the function of the parts of an organism
• Example: What does the heart do for the body?

3 - Levels of Anatomy

1. Gross – anatomy on a large scale

• Example: Learning the names of the bones and certain regions on them
2. Histology – anatomy at the tissue level
• Example: What is bone tissue made of?
3. Cytology – anatomy at the cellular level
• Example: What types of cells make up bone tissue?

Subdivision of Anatomy

1. Cadaveric Anatomy - A cadaver is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians
and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide
tissue to repair a defect in a living human being.

2. Living Anatomy - defined as the anatomy revealed on living humans, is gaining importance in
modern anatomy education, and has even been considered to replace cadaver-based anatomy study.

3. Developmental Anatomy: Embryology - the field of embryology concerned with the changes that cells,
tissues, organs, and the body as a whole undergo from a germ cell of each parent to the resulting offspring;
it includes both prenatal and postnatal development.

4. Microscopic Anatomy: Histology - also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, which

studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues.

5. Surface Anatomy - (also called superficial anatomy and visual anatomy) is the study of the external
features of the body of an animal.

6. Radiographic & Imaging Anatomy - Radiology is a branch of medicine that uses imaging technology to
diagnose and treat disease. Radiography uses ionizing radiation (x-rays) to image any part of the human
anatomy from head to toe.

7. Applied Anatomy - the practical application of anatomical knowledge to diagnosis and treatment.

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Sem, S.Y. 2020-2021
Pr epared by: Floren ce Jhun F. Almad in
Anatomy and Physiology (LECTURE NOTES) CSU – BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

8. Experimental Anatomy - is an approach or a method in anatomy which is in particular distinguished by

doing specific and targeted experiments involving single anatomical structures; it is carried out in order to
collect more information about the respective anatomical structure's function.

9. Genetics - is the study of heredity. Heredity is a biological process whereby a parent passes certain
genes onto their children or offspring. Every child inherits genes from both of their biological parents and
these genes, in turn, express specific traits.

10. Comparative Anatomy - is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different
species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).

11. Physical Anthropology - branch of anthropology concerned with the origin, evolution, and diversity of
people.

Subdivision in Physiology

1. Systemic Physiology - This is the study of the functions of specific organs. For example,
renal physiology is the study of kidney function.

2. Immunology - is a branch of biology that covers the study of immune systems in all organisms.

3. Pharmacology - is the study of how a drug affects a biological system and how the body
responds to the drug. The discipline encompasses the sources, chemical properties, biological
effects and therapeutic uses of drugs.

4. Radiology and Pathology - Radiology is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to
diagnose and treat diseases within the bodies of animals, including humans. Pathology is the
study of the causes and effects of disease or injury.

5. Cellular Physiology - is the biological study of the activities that take place in a cell to keep it
alive. The term physiology refers to normal functions in a living organism. Animal cells, plant cells
and microorganism cells show similarities in their functions even though they vary in structure

6. Comparative Physiology - is a subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the

diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to
evolutionary physiology and environmental physiology.

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Sem, S.Y. 2020-2021
Pr epared by: Floren ce Jhun F. Almad in
Anatomy and Physiology (LECTURE NOTES) CSU – BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Basic ConCepts

HOMOLOGY VS. ANALOGY

Homology: • Same origin different function.

Thus the forelimbs of such widely differing mammals as humans, bats, and deer are
homologous; the form of construction and the number of bones in these varying limbs are
practically identical, and represent adaptive modifications of the forelimb structure of
their common early mammalian ancestors.
Analogy: • Same function different origin.

Dragonfly wings

Analogous structures, on the other hand, can be represented by the wings of birds and of insects;
the structures are used for flight in both types of organisms, but they have no common ancestral
origin at the beginning of their evolutionary development.
Ontogeny repeats Phylogeny
Ontogeny: • Development of an individual organism over its lifetime.
Phylogeny: • The evolutionary development and history of a species.
• This famous proposition from biology suggests that, if we have similar embryologic development, we are
closely related.
• The idea goes as follows. Embryogenesis is a developmental sequence at the earliest parts of life for a
multicellular organism, an early way of structuring a mass of dividing cells into a body plan.

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Sem, S.Y. 2020-2021
Pr epared by: Floren ce Jhun F. Almad in